Upright vacuum cleaners are well known. Further, upright vacuum cleaners that can be converted from a floor cleaning mode into an “above-the-floor” cleaning mode are also well known. In order to carry out both of these cleaning modes, it is common for an upright vacuum cleaner to incorporate a handle assembly having a wand and hose arrangement which can be used when required for above-the-floor cleaning. In some prior art arrangements, such as that shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,519,113, the wand and hose assembly attach to the cleaner head such that they form part of the airflow path within the vacuum cleaner when the machine is used in the floor cleaning mode. The wand is then releasable from the cleaner head when above-the-floor cleaning is required. Whilst this is a relatively simple arrangement, the incoming air has to travel through the wand and hose when the machine is used in the floor cleaning mode. Therefore, this arrangement unnecessarily increases losses within the vacuum cleaner.
An alternative arrangement is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 2,660,457. In this arrangement, a wand which forms part of a handle assembly of the vacuum cleaner shown therein is removable from the remainder of the vacuum cleaner. The wand can be reattached to a hose located at the front of the vacuum cleaner for above-the-floor cleaning purposes.
Another known type of handle assembly forming part of a vacuum cleaner is shown in EP 1 265 519. In this arrangement, a handle portion and the wand are releasably attached to a main body of the vacuum cleaner by a catch. The handle portion and wand can be released from the upper end of the hose, turned around and reconnected. In this way, when the handle assembly is to be used for above-the-floor cleaning, the hose is attached to the handle portion with the wand then projecting away from the hose. This arrangement includes a changeover valve which selectively directs incoming air either through the cleaner head or through the hose. Therefore, when the vacuum cleaner is used for above-the-floor cleaning, no air is drawn through the cleaner head.
A further variation of handle assembly is shown in WO 2006/008444. In this arrangement, the illustrated vacuum cleaner has a handle assembly comprising a tubular wand which is slideable between a stowed and an extended position. A single locking mechanism is provided which is able to secure the handle assembly to the remainder of the vacuum cleaner, to lock the tubular wand in the extended position and to release the tubular wand from the extended position. However, this particular locking mechanism requires space on either side of the tubular wand in order to operate. Therefore, this arrangement is not as well suited to small products where space is at a premium.